Written Answers Wednesday 10 June 2009

Scottish Executive

Climate Change

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will follow the advice of Friends of the Earth Scotland, the Scottish Climate Change Business Delivery Group, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and others and set a cumulative target for greenhouse gas reductions as well as a point target thereby fixing the trajectory of reductions over the long term.

Stewart Stevenson: The annual target approach in the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill contains many of the key elements inherent in a cumulative emissions budget.

  By setting batches of statutory annual targets based on expert advice and designed to deliver the point targets prescribed by the Bill, there will always be between 12 and 17 years for which Scotland’s total permissible cumulative emissions are defined. For example, by October 2011, ministers must have set annual targets up to 2027. That will fix almost half of the total emissions reduction trajectory to 2050.

  Crucially, however, the model in the Bill also provides the flexibility necessary to react to the many uncertainties which lie ahead in the four decades to 2050.

Climate Change

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that setting cumulative targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is vital in combating climate change.

Stewart Stevenson: International action to reduce emissions is vital in combating climate change.

  The Scottish ministers recognise the importance of showing leadership on climate change. That is why the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill commits to reducing Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 and sets an ambitious interim target of reducing emissions by at least 34% by 2020 with a statutory requirement to move to a reduction of at least 42% as soon as the European Union adopts a 30% reduction target for 2020.

  The Scottish ministers also recognise the importance of not waiting until the later years in the period to 2050 before making significant cuts in emissions. That is why the Bill requires statutory annual targets to be set in batches, with advice from an expert body and for these to be set so as to ensure delivery of the Bill’s point targets, in particular in the context of early action, that for 2020.

Climate Change

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that setting point targets for combating climate change without considering cumulative emissions increases the possibility of climate feedback by exceeding a safer level of total emissions over the longer term and thereby mitigating any point reduction achieved.

Stewart Stevenson: The cumulative effect of greenhouse gas emissions is recognised by the emissions reduction framework in the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill.

  By setting batches of annual targets based on expert advice there will always be between 12 and 17 years for which Scotland’s total permissible cumulative emissions are defined. For example, by October 2011, ministers must have set statutory annual targets up to 2027. That will fix almost half of the total emissions reduction trajectory to 2050.

  In retaining the sensible flexibility necessary to respond to the many uncertainties which lie ahead in the four decades to 2050, the Bill contains the safeguard that the Scottish ministers must always seek expert advice before setting any batches of annual targets. The Bill also requires that the Scottish ministers must have regard to a number of target-setting criteria, the first of which is expert advice on climate change.

Communities

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the number and value of grants made under CashBack for Communities are to applicants in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun Scottish Parliament constituency.

Fergus Ewing: To date, the Scottish Government has committed to invest over £13 million in the CashBack for Communities programme which includes diversionary and participatory projects for young people across Scotland.

  £3 million of this investment was allocated to YouthLink Scotland. Funding distributed through the YouthLink local youth project grant scheme is recorded by local authority rather than parliamentary constituency. The following organisations in East Ayrshire received funding in the 2009 phase:

  

 Drongan Health Initiative
£21,976.00


 The Zone Project/Bellsbank Adventure Playground Ltd
£15,912.00


 East Ayrshire Community Safety Partnership
£6,185.45


 Four Connections Youth Group
£3,235.00


 Galston Youth Forum
£8,695.50


 Cumnock Mini/Midi Rugby Club
£5,500.00


 Cumnock Landward Community Association
£7,816.05


 Volunteer Centre East Ayrshire
£8,600.00


 Kilmaurs Community Association
£2,580.00


 Extreme Valley Riders
£1,500.00


 Total
£82,000.00



  A further £1 million has been allocated to YouthLink for a second grant programme which is currently open for applications.

  In addition, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) are using CashBack funding to deliver a programme of diversionary football activities in East Ayrshire including Midnight Leagues (eight venues in 2008 and three venues in 2009) and Street Football (11 venues in 2008 and 22 in 2009) which were allocated a combined total of £8,800 for 2008-09.

  East Ayrshire also hosts the South West School of Football, which is based at Cumnock Academy and has been allocated £18,200 in 2008-09. A total of £6,675 has been allocated to the Soccer One programme in East Ayrshire, in which nine schools are participating. CashBack funding has also enabled SFA football development officers to work with East Ayrshire Council’s New Sporting Futures team to increase existing successful activities. They have also collaborated to develop a pilot street football project called Killie Icon, which offers talented players the chance to win a full week’s training with Kilmarnock Football Club.

  Scottish Rugby are investing £7,082 of CashBack funding in a range of diversionary school and club rugby activities in East Ayrshire. Between August 2008 and April 2009, nine Street Rugby sessions took place and 2,212 primary and secondary pupils participated in school-based rugby activities. The local development officer, apprentices and community coaches are working together to ensure that there are sustainable opportunities for young people to pursue an interest in rugby long-term. Two young people who participated in Street Rugby sessions in Cumnock went on to join Cumnock RFC.

  Basketballscotland is working to promote basketball participation across Scotland through the deployment of four regional co-ordinators funded by CashBack, including one in west Scotland which will benefit young people in the East Ayrshire area.

  The second culture strand of CashBack was announced in March 2009. The Creative Identities Project is an 18-month programme of creative learning activities, targeting young carers in particular but open to all young people. East Ayrshire is included in the West Central Programme Plan, which will be led by Glasgow-based partners Tramway and Glasgow Film Theatre. They have been allocated a total of £343,600 to deliver projects across the region.

Courts

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was unpaid in court fines in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Fergus Ewing: Over the five-year period 2004 to 2008, a total of £125.4 million court fines were imposed. For those fines still to be paid, £4.1 million (3%) is in the process of being collected through agreed instalments and £7.9 million (6%) is currently in arrears, due to part or full payment default. As most fines are payable by instalments the time for repayment, provided by the court, can extend across a number of years.

  2004

  

 Sheriffdom
 Value of Accounts Registered (£)
 Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)
 Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 4,695,081
 14,199
 31,860


 Lothian and Borders
 3,326,717
 18,360
 51,585


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 7,884,719
 14,453
 60,956


 Tayside Central and Fife
 4,440,268
 15,823
 33,870


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 3,267,337
 10,084
 36,266


 North Strathclyde
 2,533,438
 17,039
 7,200


 Totals
 26,147,559
 89,958
 221,737



  2005

  

 Sheriffdom
 Value of Accounts Registered (£)
 Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)
 Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 6,242,678
 16,425
 93,915


 Lothian and Borders
 18,663,941
 16,277
 77,225


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 1,874,809
 8,247
 50,874


 Tayside Central and Fife
 3,789,826
 44,770
 90,449


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 3,777,112
 17,865
 90,252


 North Strathclyde
 2,570,440
 32,707
 17,029


 Totals
 36,918,805
 136,290
 419,744



  2006

  

 Sheriffdom
 Value of Accounts Registered (£)
 Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)
 Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 3,682,544
 78,188
 110,360


 Lothian and Borders
 3,769,993
 68,376
 221,612


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 2,427,640
 31,059
 235,591


 Tayside Central and Fife
 4,759,419
 85,766
 177,445


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 4,113,162
 39,629
 325,245


 North Strathclyde
 2,644,408
 38,191
 115,055


 Totals
 21,397,166
 341,210
 1,185,307



  2007

  

 Sheriffdom
 Value of Accounts Registered (£)
 Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)
 Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 4,079,537
 132,216
 188,482


 Lothian and Borders
 3,113,184
 142,674
 485,766


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 2,514,256
 101,727
 205,895


 Tayside Central and Fife
 3,911,397
 194,813
 348,201


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 3,886,490
 138,766
 400,874


 North Strathclyde
 2,420,095
 104,487
 209,450


 Totals
 19,924,960
 814,684
 1,838,668



  2008

  

 Sheriffdom
 Value of Accounts Registered (£)
 Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)
 Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 4,251,567
 412,705
 449,376


 Lothian and Borders
 3,893,040
 447,660
 1,288,301


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 2,231,544
 284,910
 512,623


 Tayside Central and Fife
 3,974,014
 744,760
 651,717


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 4,540,247
 550,394
 912,481


 North Strathclyde
 2,144,120
 298,625
 444,628


 Totals
 21,034,532
 2,739,053
 4,259,127



  

 
 Value of Accounts Registered (£)
 Balance Being Collected Through Instalments as at May 2009 (£)
 Balance in Arrears as at May 2009 (£)


 Five Year Totals
 125,423,022
 4,121,195
 7,924,582

Courts

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many court fines there were where no payment was made and what the value was of such fines in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Fergus Ewing: The information is set out in the following tables:

  2004

  

 Sheriffdom
 Accounts With No Payment Made as at May 2009
 Value (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 51
 18,330


 Lothian and Borders
 58
 35,796


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 56
 48,705


 Tayside Central and Fife
 34
 12,556


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 95
 23,570


 North Strathclyde
 11
 4,868


 Totals
 305
 143,825



  2005

  

 Sheriffdom
 Accounts With No Payment Made as at May 2009
 Value (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 143
 74,608


 Lothian and Borders
 160
 52,447


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 121
 30,386


 Tayside Central and Fife
 69
 79,824


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 119
 34,620


 North Strathclyde
 25
 13,313


 Totals
 637
 285,197



  2006

  

 Sheriffdom
 Accounts With No Payment Made as at May 2009
 Value (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 225
 73,507


 Lothian and Borders
 504
 157,068


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 229
 63,931


 Tayside Central and Fife
 228
 151,783


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 215
 115,556


 North Strathclyde
 238
 80,414


 Totals
 1,639
 642,259



  2007

  

 Sheriffdom
 Accounts With No Payment Made as at May 2009
 Value (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 329
 123,916


 Lothian and Borders
 1,113
 307,696


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 435
 99,086


 Tayside Central and Fife
 383
 117,687


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 642
 212,444


 North Strathclyde
 317
 129,503


 Totals
 3,219
 990,331



  2008

  

 Sheriffdom
 Accounts With No Payment Made as at May 2009
 Value (£)


 Grampian Highland and Islands
 1,065
 357,767


 Lothian and Borders
 1,463
 794,558


 Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 689
 207,295


 Tayside Central and Fife
 1,243
 589,786


 South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 1,297
 431,139


 North Strathclyde
 903
 265,045


 Totals
 6,660
 2,645,590



  

 Five Year Totals
 12,460
 4,707,202

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to calls by the director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow for the introduction of mandatory drug testing for everybody who is arrested, to help tackle drug addiction.

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to the question S3W-23837 on 12 May 2009 in respect of the future of the existing mandatory drug testing of arrestees pilots. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

  The evaluation of the pilots found that significantly fewer arrestees had been assisted into treatment than originally anticipated, especially those who had not previously engaged with treatment services. Of the 3,308 individuals tested, only 223 were reported to have engaged with treatment services. The study also found that comparing the cost effectiveness of the mandatory drug test of arrestees pilots against arrest referral in terms of individuals attending assessment and engaging with drug treatment, arrest referral schemes appeared to be more cost effective.

  The funding released as a result of the government’s decision not to continue the pilots (£1.8 million per year) is being reinvested to make community sentences more robust, particularly with regard to issues of immediacy, speed of completion and visibility. The termination of the pilots will also allow police officers in busy custody suites to have a greater focus on other key tasks.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated to drug treatment programmes in the Lothians region in each year since 1999.

Fergus Ewing: Funding is allocated to health boards for drug treatment and rehabilitation services. The following table sets out the funding that has been made available to NHS Lothian from 1998-99 to 2009-10.

  

 Financial Year
NHS Lothian* Allocation (£000)


 1998-99
 2,263


 1999-2000
 2,776


 2000-01
 2,922


 2001-02
 3,214


 2002-03
 3,539


 2003-04
 3,539


 2004-05
 3,719


 2005-06
 4,645


 2006-07
 4,645


 2007-08
 4,645


 2008-09
 4,821


 2009-10
 5,472



  Note: *NHS Lothian is comprised of the City of Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian Alcohol and Drugs Action Team areas.

  The allocations detailed in the table only represent the ring-fenced money provided by the Scottish Government to NHS Lothian for drug treatment and rehabilitation services; the health board and other local partners are able to supplement these funds to tackle problem drug use, in order to meet the needs of the local population.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people referred to drug treatment programmes in the Lothians region in each of the last five years entered such a programme.

Fergus Ewing: This information is not held centrally. However, we do hold information on the number of clients offered treatment, but not all of those offered may enter treatment. This information is available from the Drug Treatment Waiting Times Framework from October 2006 only. Information on drug treatment waiting times is collected by Alcohol and Drug Action Teams (ADATs) covering areas similar to health boards and submitted quarterly to ISD.

  The following table sets out the number of clients offered a date for first treatment, October 2006 to December 20081 by quarter2 within NHS Lothian.

  

 
 Clients Offered A Date For First Treatment


 October-December 20063
 298


 January-March 2007
 302


 April-June 20073
 205


 July-September 2007
 568


 October-December 2007
 571


 January-March 2008
 425


 April-June 2008
 498


 July-September 20084
 150


 October-December 2008
 287



  Notes:

  1. Data on first appointment date offered for any intervention was not recorded prior to October 2006.

  2. Clients offered a date for first treatment within each quarter.

  3. Due to data quality issues data was not submitted from Midlothian for the quarters October to December 2006 and April to June 2007.

  4. Due to data quality issues data was not submitted from Edinburgh City for the quarter July to September 2008.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of persons accused in homicide cases in (a) the Lothian and Borders police force area and (b) Scotland was under the influence of (i) alcohol or (ii) drugs at the time of the alleged offence in each year since 2000.

Kenny MacAskill: Persons Accused in Homicide Cases1, By Percentage Drunk and/or Under Influence of Drugs, Lothian and Borders, 2000-01 to 2007-08

  

 Year
 Drunk
 Under the Influence of Drugs
 Both Drunk and Under the Influence of Drugs
 Neither Drunk Nor on Drugs
 Not Known
 Total Number of Accused


 2000-01
 33%
 0%
 8%
 42%
 17%
 12


 2001-02
 27%
 5%
 27%
 5%
 36%
 22


 2002-03
 47%
 5%
 5%
 37%
 5%
 19


 2003-04
 55%
 25%
 10%
 0%
 10%
 20


 2004-05
 38%
 13%
 13%
 13%
 25%
 24


 2005-06
 61%
 0%
 0%
 35%
 4%
 23


 2006-07
 21%
 25%
 8%
 4%
 42%
 24


 2007-08
 4%
 33%
 33%
 0%
 29%
 24



  Note: 1Recorded as homicide as at 28 November 2008.

  Persons Accused in Homicide Cases1, By Percentage Drunk and/or Under Influence of Drugs, Scotland, 2000-01 to 2007-08

  

 Year
 Drunk
 Under the Influence of Drugs
 Both Drunk and Under the Influence of Drugs
 Neither Drunk Nor on Drugs
 Not Known
 Total Number of Accused


 2000-01
 41%
 5%
 7%
 20%
 27%
 130


 2001-02
 33%
 4%
 11%
 9%
 42%
 158


 2002-03
 34%
 11%
 8%
 18%
 28%
 176


 2003-04
 35%
 12%
 7%
 7%
 39%
 155


 2004-05
 26%
 9%
 6%
 14%
 45%
 187


 2005-06
 41%
 9%
 15%
 18%
 17%
 140


 2006-07
 30%
 8%
 9%
 12%
 41%
 167


 2007-08
 22%
 9%
 14%
 13%
 42%
 148



  Note: 1Recorded as homicide as at 28 November 2008.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reform the regulations governing placing requests.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the regulations governing placing requests with a view to helping parents, pupils and local authorities.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation setting new limits on class sizes.

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it considers that local authorities such as East Renfrewshire Council can reduce class sizes below the limits of 30 and 33 in the absence of any further legislation.

Keith Brown: We need to ensure that the ability of national and local government to establish and support class size limits is properly balanced with the rights of parents to make placing requests about where their children are educated. We are considering, with COSLA and local government, whether current legislative provision gets that right.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it can give local authorities such as East Renfrewshire Council, faced with the prospect of rising class sizes.

Keith Brown: Local government has received record levels of funding that should enable them to make progress on meeting the concordat commitment to make progress on reducing P1 to P3 classes to a maximum of 18 pupils. The Scottish Government will discuss with East Renfrewshire Council any legislative obstacle they believe may hinder their ability to reduce class sizes.

Education

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage and promote street cleaning initiatives among young people.

Keith Brown: Litter is a prominent element of the Scottish Government-funded Eco Schools Scotland programme, which involves over 3,300 schools and pre-school centres. In addition, we provided a further £115,000 to the organisation Keep Scotland Beautiful to raise the profile of the 2009 National Spring Clean campaign, which involved over 57,500 people, (over 43,000 of whom were children), nearly three times as many participants as last year, in 1,082 clean-up events.

Education

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage schools to be more environmentally conscious.

Keith Brown: Understanding environmental issues and sustainable development are key elements of the learning experiences and outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence.

  The Scottish Government is also funding the eco schools programme, part of an international initiative, designed to encourage whole school action for the environment. Over 3,300 schools and pre-school centres are registered with the programme and Scotland now has 767 schools with Green Flag status.

Education

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to primary and secondary school head teachers with regard to smoking in school premises and on school buses.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has published guidance for local authorities and schools on health promotion to support the implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007. The guidance includes information on substance misuse, including the prevention and reduction of tobacco, alcohol and drug-related harm.

  Section 2 - Safety of Pupils of Circular (Number 7 of 2003) the Safe School Travel Pack, provided by the Scottish School Board Association and endorsed by the then Scottish Executive, suggests ways in which school staff can assist in the operation of a safe and efficient transport service. This includes ensuring observance of a No Smoking policy on school buses (for example, by using supervisors or liaising with drivers), taking firm action against any pupil found smoking and reporting any driver observed smoking to his/her employer.

  Scottish Executive Education Department Circular (Number 7 of 2003), which is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 29135), offers extensive guidance on all aspects of school transport, as does the more recent School Transport: Survey of Good Practice booklet issued in March 2007 which is also available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45729).

  Curriculum for Excellence offers opportunities for schools to support the development of qualities of resilience and adaptability in young people so that they are able to make informed choices to enhance their own health and wellbeing. Guidance on the health and wellbeing element of Curriculum for Excellence was issued to all teachers in May. Schools should be planning to introduce approaches based on the guidance from August 2009 and to plan fully on the basis of the guidance from August 2010.

  An expert steering group on substance misuse education in schools has been established, to produce advice, guidance and proposals aimed at helping schools and authorities to achieve improvements, in the context of Curriculum for Excellence and the concordat with local government.

Education

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that Aberdeen City Council is making adequate year-on-year progress towards lowering class sizes and, if not, what action it intends to take.

Keith Brown: The concordat with local government recognises that progress on reducing P1 to P3 classes to a maximum of 18 will vary according to local circumstances. Aberdeen did not make progress on this concordat commitment between September 2007 and September 2008. The Minister for Schools and Skills met with elected members and senior officials from Aberdeen City Council on 26 May to discuss this and other issues. It is clear that Aberdeen City Council faces a substantial financial challenge to overcome budgetary problems that have built up over several years going back to at least 2002. The council has a recovery programme in place and has received substantial support to deliver the programme from COSLA. Responsibility for resolving the financial issues ultimately rests with the council so it is well placed to deliver high quality services that improve the lives of the people of Aberdeen.

Education

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Aberdeen City Council has maintained (a) primary and (b) secondary teacher numbers since May 2007.

Keith Brown: Information on the number of teachers employed in Aberdeen can be found in the statistical bulletin Teachers in Scotland 2008 published on 24 March 2008 and can be found at the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/270926/0080623.pdf .

Education

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether class sizes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Aberdeen have decreased since May 2007.

Keith Brown: Information on class sizes in secondary schools is not routinely collected. In primary the average primary class size has risen from 23.7 in September 2006 to 24.7 in September 2008. It is clear that Aberdeen City Council faces a substantial financial challenge to overcome budgetary problems that have built up over several years going back to at least 2002. The council has a recovery programme in place and has received substantial support to deliver the programme from COSLA. Responsibility for resolving the financial issues ultimately rests with the council so it is well placed to deliver high quality services that improve the lives of the people of Aberdeen.

Gaelic

Dave Thompson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-7069 by Fiona Hyslop on 21 May 2009, whether it considers that bilingualism improves the cognitive abilities of children; whether this is the case with Gaelic-English bilingualism, and how many and what percentage of children in Gaelic-medium primary schools are taught French.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is aware that there may be a number of benefits resulting from Gaelic-English bilingual education. No information is held centrally on the number or percentage of Gaelic-medium pupils in primary schools that are taught French. The Scottish Government would expect, however, local authorities to offer further language learning opportunities to Gaelic-medium pupils both at primary and secondary levels.

Health

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many and (b) which rural general hospitals have CT scanners.

Nicola Sturgeon: Of the six rural general hospitals, five have CT scanners. These are in Lerwick, Wick, Stornoway, Oban and Fort William.

Health

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects all rural general hospitals to have CT scanners.

Nicola Sturgeon: It is a matter for the relevant NHS board to decide if a CT scanner is required within their area.

Health

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional financial resources it will make available to NHS boards to provide CT scanners to rural general hospitals without one.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards receive annual funding allocations for both revenue and capital expenditure on the basis of a formula that takes account of a range of demographic and geographical factors. Island NHS boards also receive an additional allocation of capital resources to cover planned capital investment projects within their delegated authority not covered by the formula allocation.

  Over and above these allocations, £30 million of capital resources are allocated across NHSScotland annually to support the purchase and replacement of medical equipment. NHS boards are required to plan and prioritise the use of capital resources locally.

  NHS boards are expected to fund the running costs of capital projects from their existing revenue allocations.

Housing

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the criteria for making funding allocations to housing associations were changed from approvals to completions.

Alex Neil: There has been no change to the criteria for making funding allocations to housing associations of the kind referred to in the question. This year, as with previous years, registered social landlords are issued with programme agreements at the beginning of the financial year. These documents are jointly agreed with local authorities as the statutory housing authority and are based on the locally produced Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP).

Housing

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the managing director or any other representatives of the Greenbelt Group of Companies Ltd and what was discussed.

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met any residents’ groups representing Greenbelt Group of Companies Ltd customers or whether it plans to do so.

Fergus Ewing: I met with the Managing Director of the Greenbelt Group on 12 September 2007. My representatives attended a follow up meeting on 5 December 2007.

  The minutes of both these meeting are available on the Scottish Government website.

  I have agreed to meet with Paula Hoogerbrugge, a representative of the home owners residents’ groups and with Alex Middleton, the Managing Director of Greenbelt over the coming months.

Housing

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish the findings of its householder permitted development rights consultation.

Stewart Stevenson: The responses are currently being analysed and the analysis report will be published later in the summer.

Housing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce for what purpose it will use the Barnett consequentials arising from housing spending in the 2009-10 UK Budget.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government will announce its decision as to how this funding will be allocated in due course.

Planning

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with communities in regions with a concentration of opencast coal mining operations prior to the policy changes contained in Planning Circular 3/2009.

Stewart Stevenson: The changes to the notification procedure in no way diminish the opportunity for the public or communities to be involved in the planning process. This administrative change was therefore not subject to consultation.

Planning

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what appeal procedures exist for communities to challenge planning decisions that have been made by local authorities but will no longer be considered by the Scottish Executive.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no appeal procedures in planning legislation which allow for communities to challenge decisions that have been made by planning authorities. However, objections and representations from consultees and the public are an essential part of the decision-making process on planning applications. It is for planning authorities to give due consideration to such views when reaching a decision on planning applications. Forthcoming changes to the planning system will provide the public with greater opportunities to influence proposals through pre-applications consultation and decision making through pre-determination hearings on larger scale developments. Changes will also involve more information being available on applications and on decisions and how they were reached.

  Individuals can challenge planning decisions made by local authorities through the courts.

Police

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police operations in the Lothian and Borders police force area have taken place against persons known or believed to be armed in each of the last three years.

Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.

Rail Network

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what type of rolling stock will be deployed on the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether class 334 Juniper trains will be deployed on the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

Stewart Stevenson: It is currently proposed to utilise the class 334 "Juniper" type electrical multiple unit for all services east of Airdrie to Edinburgh Waverley via Bathgate. This is subject to discussion and agreement with the current franchise operator, First ScotRail.

Rail Network

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost for the procurement of rolling stock for the Airdrie to Bathgate line remains the same as in the original projections and, if not, what the revised cost is.

Stewart Stevenson: The procurement of rolling stock is being managed and funded by First ScotRail through the terms of the recent Franchise Extension. The anticipated additional cost of train provision on Airdrie to Bathgate is consistent with business case assumptions, but the amount is commercially confidential.

  An additional 38 electric trains are being procured for Scotland. The new trains will operate primarily on Ayrshire and Inverclyde but will provide an overall increase in the electric rolling stock fleet that will enable the delivery of planned new services on Airdrie to Bathgate rail link through the redeployment of existing trains.

Rail Network

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the comments of the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change on 23 April 2009 (Official Report c. 16704) that "the figure of 3 per cent growth in the rail network grossly understates the growth that we have seen in recent years, so we must be conscious of that", what planning assumptions have been made about patronage of the Airdrie to Bathgate line.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland has taken account of the growth predictions outlined in the business case for the Airdrie to Bathgate project, as well as Network Rail’s Route Utilisation Strategy in the planning of rolling stock procurement.

  The updated business case which was revised in December 2008 indicates that during the busiest time of day between 7 am and 7 pm additional passenger boardings are anticipated to be 13,878.

  Transport Scotland remains committed to ensuring that sufficient supplies of trains are provided to meet projected passenger demand on the Scottish Rail network and continues to work with the franchisee on meeting demand.

Rail Network

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity is of the trains planned for the Airdrie to Bathgate line in terms of (a) seating and (b) number of coaches.

Stewart Stevenson: It is currently proposed to utilise the class 334 "Juniper" type electrical multiple unit for services east of Airdrie to Edinburgh Waverley via Bathgate, the seating and number of coaches are as follows:

  (a) 183 standard class seats.

  (b) Three coach units.

  It should be noted that a number of peak services will operate as 2x3 coach units.

Rail Network

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity is of the existing Helensburgh to Airdrie line in terms of (a) seating and (b) number of coaches.

Stewart Stevenson: The trains used on the Helensburgh to Airdrie line are part of a larger fleet which works the North Clyde network. Therefore carriage and seat numbers are not available specifically for the Helensburgh to Airdrie Line. The number of carriages in the North Clyde fleet is 99 and these are equipped with 5,772 seats. The trains used on this service are either in three or six carriage formation. Seating varies between train types, and the number of seats per three carriage train varies between 183 and 219.

Regeneration

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether membership of the independent advisory panel for the Town Centre Regeneration Fund has been determined.

Alex Neil: I am pleased to confirm that membership of the External Advisory Panel has been determined. Mr Alan Wilson, for many years the Chief Executive of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, Ms Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of Scottish Chamber, and Mr Rory Mair, Chief Executive of COSLA, have all agreed to join the panel, which Mr Wilson will chair.

Roads

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set aside funding from the capital budget for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and, if so, how much.

Stewart Stevenson: As set out in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2008, the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be considered for procurement through the Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) model.

Roads

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether more compulsory purchase orders than envisaged are required in relation to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and, if so, how many additional orders are required and in what locations.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no further compulsory purchase orders planned.

Roads

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is acceptable public procurement practice to progress the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route based on cost estimates from the fourth quarter of 2003.

Stewart Stevenson: As with all schemes the cost estimate for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be reviewed once the statutory procedures are completed and prior to the commencement of the procurement process.

Schools

Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it anticipates bridging the gap between the monies available to local authorities for new school buildings and Audit Scotland’s estimate that approximately £5 billion needs to be spent on the schools estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is already supporting £2 billion worth of construction on schools - £1 billion in projects that we have signed off or are in the pipeline and the Infrastructure Investment Plan shows authorities plan to invest a further £1 billion over the current five-year period.

  We are developing jointly with COSLA the new School Estate Strategy, which we hope to publish shortly. We have also indicated our intention to announce later this year the next part of our schools investment programme. That will involve working with local authorities to take forward capital investment through the Scottish Futures Trust.

Schools

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what approaches it has received from the Highland Council regarding funding to cover the cost of a complete refurbishment of Wick High School.

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what approaches it has received from the Highland Council regarding funding to cover the cost of a replacement for Wick High School.

Fiona Hyslop: One of the Highland councillors wrote in March 2008 in this regard, although acknowledging that decisions in relation to individual schools are for the council itself.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to extend the waiving of charges for the registration of septic tanks.

Roseanna Cunningham: No. The waiving of SEPA’s charges for registering septic tanks has already been extended by two months to 31 May 2009, in response to a significant increase in septic tank registrations at the end of March, when the overall waiver of SEPA’s charges for most new permits ended. I believe a further extension of the waiver would be confusing to the public, and is unnecessary, as SEPA does not intend actively to pursue unregistered septic tanks.

Scottish Water

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23903 by Stewart Stevenson on 20 May 2009, whether it will indicate all instances of more than 5% over expenditure against estimates in Scottish Water’s capital programme for the year to 31 March 2009.

Stewart Stevenson: Figures held centrally are aggregates which is the level at which outperformance will be assessed. Scottish Water reiterated their commitment to outperforming the financial limits set out in the final determination in their Delivery Plan update for 2009-10. The full extent of any under or outperformance can only be determined at the end of the regulatory period.

Scottish Water

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23197 by Stewart Stevenson on 5 May 2009, for what reason it was decided not to keep financial flows related to Scottish Water’s £43.7 million out-performance balance clearly distinguishable from other day-to-day income and flows, as directed by Scottish Water Governance Directions 2008.

Stewart Stevenson: Keeping financial flows clearly distinguishable is only appropriate where the funds have been placed in investment securities, such as gilts. As noted in the answer to question S3W-23198, on 5 May 2009, these funds have not been used to purchase gilts. The full extent of under or out-performance will be determined at the end of the regulatory period and will be identified as appropriate in Scottish Water’s accounts in due course.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Scottish Water

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-23196, S3W-23197, S3W-23198, S3W-23199 and S3W-23200 by Stewart Stevenson on 5 May 2009, how long Scottish Water’s £43.7 million out-performance balance remained as a bank deposit after the decision to deposit the money was approved by ministers on 25 March 2009.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-23197 on 5 May 2009. Out-performance funds are not identified as a separately identifiable cash reserve. Scottish Water’s bank deposits vary from day-to-day in line with the cash flow requirements of the business.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.